Spokane County adopts compost procurement ordinance to prioritize locally processed organics

Spokane County commissioners adopted a compost procurement ordinance on May 13, 2025 that establishes a purchasing preference for locally processed compost generated through the county’s regional organics facilities when compost is appropriate.

Purchasing and the county’s solid waste division presented the ordinance as a compliance measure with the state’s organics management requirements. Deb Geiger of purchasing said the ordinance requires departments to consider buying local compost that has been processed from the county’s system and that purchasing will collect and report data on compost purchases at year end.

The solid waste division will report diversion data from regional facilities and the county will perform education and outreach about compost use, Geiger said. Staff noted the county already conducts outreach through its regional solid waste system and will include procurement reporting as required.

No members of the public testified on the ordinance during the public hearing. The board moved to approve the public hearing item as presented and the motion passed unanimously.

The ordinance creates an administrative preference to support locally processed compost where appropriate and sets up data collection and reporting responsibilities for purchasing and solid waste; staff will include those results in the county’s year‑end reporting.